Global solar PV installations to reach record high in 2019.

Report • Nikolay Chavdarov • 13 August 2019

Global solar PV installations will reach a new high of 114.5 GW in 2019, up 17.5% on 2018, according to new research from Wood Mackenzie. Annual installations are expected to rise to around 125 GW per year by the early 2020. Commenting on the report, Tom Heggarty, Wood Mackenzie Senior Research Analyst, said: "Global growth will continue despite a gradual slow-down in China, the largest PV market in the world. The Chinese market peaked at 53 GW in 2017, driven by generous feed-in tariffs. A move towards more competitive procurement of solar PV will lead to more sustainable annual additions of 30-40 GW." Countries installing between 1-5GW annually will be of the market growth engine. In 2018, there were seven such markets. By 2022, there will be 19 - with new names including Saudi Arabia, France and Taiwan. In India, auction activity is starting to recover after a slow-down caused by land and transmission constraints. In the U.S., announcements of new state utility IRPs, in Florida for example, are good news for the solar PV market.

The European market will grow strongly as policy markets look to deliver on 2020 and 2030 renewable energy targets. In Latin America, Brazil looks to be the most exciting market of the moment, with both auctioned PPAs with distributors and free market contracts with large consumers on offer. In the Middle East, all eyes are on the upcoming 1.5 GW auction in Saudi Arabia, which is set to be extremely competitive. Auctions will remain the driver of growth in many global PV markets. We expect to see 90 GW of solar PV projects awarded contracts through auctions in 2019, up from 81 GW in 2018." added Mr. Heggarty.